Client Name

Meezan Bank Limited

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Fawad Ahmad

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Behavioural Studies

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

Our ELP project falls under two thought leadership areas – Behavioural Studies and Islamic Business and Finance. Our project mainly focuses on understanding the behaviours, needs and preferences of GenZ and Millennials around banking services and features. The project extensively focused on understanding the behaviours of the target audience through secondary research, multiple in-depth interviews and quantitative survey. This section of our project also helped us polish our research and analysis skills, preparing us for the real world and professional challenges.

Our project also relates with the Islamic Business and Finance, as this project was provided to us by Meezan Bank. The project revolved around understanding the target audience and proposing a product/service within the boundaries of Islamic banking. This made it important for us to understand the specifics of Islamic business and the important aspects that needs to be considered before designing a banking product/service. Moreover, our proposed product had to be aligned with the current Islamic banking practices and the structure thorough which finances are processes.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Aligned SDGs Justification

Our ELP project closely relates with SDG 8 – Decent work and Economic Growth. The project focused on analysing the needs and preferences of our target audience and what are the current gaps in the banking industry. Moreover, we also understood the current issues that the target audience are facing, which could be converted into opportunities to improve banking experience for the people. Through our analysis, we also proposed a new program which included exciting features and rewards that can improve access to banking services and support financial inclusion of the target audience.

Our project also relates with SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. The project also focused on innovating the current banking experience for the customers and addressing the gaps that customers identified in the banking industry. Our proposed program with targeted features aims to do the exact, innovating and elevating the current banking experience of customers. Some of our proposed features are currently not offered by any bank, aiming to provide customers the experience of easy and better banking.

NDA

No

Abstract

The current Experiential Learning Project (ELP) is conducted to examine the banking behaviour, preferences, and expectations of two main generational groups in Pakistan, Gen Z and Millennials. The research will focus on assessing the interaction of these two different consumer groups with the banking services with special reference to digital banking, features of the products, brand association, and the perception towards the Meezan Bank. Through the use of the qualitative and quantitative research tools, including in-depth interviews and structured surveys, the project gathered feedback of 251 participants, most of whom belonged to Gen Z.

The results indicate that Millennials tend to have a utilitarian and organized attitude towards banking and use it as a useful part of their adult life. They are financially mature as they use digital wallets, mutual funds, and budgeting applications regularly, and require ethical, transparent, and Shariah compliant banking services. Gen Z, in its turn, perceives banking as an experimental and lifestyle-congruent field. They are less likely to have systematic financial education, are curious and prefer non-systematic platforms that are intuitive, mobile-first and provide instant gratification, minimalism, and digital convenience.

Although the two generations prefer hybrid banking systems and expect reliability and speed, the major differences are the depth of financial awareness (Millennials) and exploratory tendencies (Gen Z). The features of banking that would be most valued by the customers are smooth digital interactions, proactive customer support, effective communication, and appealing financial incentives. Nevertheless, the frequent complaints about downtimes of applications, unexpected fees, old-fashioned design of debit cards, and complicated onboarding procedures hamper customer satisfaction.

Meezan bank can be viewed as a safe yet conventional brand through empirical analysis. It is perceived by both Gen Z and Millennials as Islamic and formal. Although the religious positioning and familiar aesthetics (e.g. purple branding) make Meezan Bank highly recognizable, the brand is seen as requiring an update in terms of up-to-date, user-friendly services and marketing strategy.

In response to the changing customer needs, the ELP has come up with a new product idea, the GenFuture, a banking proposal, which has micro-investments, autosaving facilities, transaction streak incentives, and customized debit cards. The results of the survey prove a high interest in micro-investing options as more than 82 percent of participants said that they wanted to make small, regular investments in the stocks, mutual funds, and Islamic financial products. Likewise, the options such as autosaving, which is dependent upon transactional behaviour, and transaction-based rewards were also highly supported, which highlighted the interests of the users in getting value-added, gamified approaches to banking.

The project also assesses media consumption and preferences of content. Financial products are mostly discovered on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, and the most appealing content to people is educational and visually appealing. Nonetheless, the low advertising recall levels indicate that banks require more creative and innovative, influencer-based, and emotionally appealing campaigns.

All in all, this ELP provides an in-depth understanding of digital expectations and behavioural trends of two of the largest demographic groups. It suggests practical steps that banks can take to close the generational gap, engage more customers, and offer new products that will help them stay competitive in a highly dynamic financial environment.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project

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